Market Engagement for the Supply of an Integrated Housing IT System for Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council ('the Council') is in the process of preparing a tender for the provision of an integrated Housing IT System and is keen to establish the availability of the current market. The council intends to procure one contractor to provide an integrated Housing IT system inclusive of Housing Register/Choice Based Lettings (CBL), Temporary Accommodation, Homelessness, Private Rented Sector, and Low-Cost Home Ownership modules. • Tenderers would be expected to have relevant experience working alongside Local Authority customers and have familiarity with Local Authority Housing processes, procedures and an understanding of Housing legislation. • The council is interested in the markets views and options for how easily a solution could be scaled up at pace and size, to be able to meet potential future demand as a result of Local government Re-organisation (unconfirmed requirements currently could result in several individual councils needing to combine). • The contractor will provide a solution that is configurable for a fast-paced/ever changing team. • The contractor will provide a cloud-based solution with data centres in the UK/EU.

The scope of the services will include a system that combines several, current separate systems and process together, namely: • Housing Register and Choice Based Lettings. • Homelessness • Accommodation (Temporary Accommodation, vacancies in the supported housing pathway, Bed & Breakfast). • The Rent Bond Scheme (Deposit Bond). • Low-Cost Home Ownership Register (incl. Own Home Loan, Discounted Market Units) • Effective Reporting & Case Management • A document storage solution • Offering Financial Support (Policy and Practice Calculator) Housing Register, homelessness and low-cost homeownership information There are currently 4,465 households on the Housing Register and the Council received 2,000 homeless enquiries per annum.

The Council advertised 891 affordable (social and affordable) housing units through CBL in 2024/5 and there are 1270 households on the Low-Cost Housing Register. There are 160 units of temporary and short-term accommodation, 110 units of supported housing in the housing pathway and there are currently 322 households administered through the Rent Bond Scheme.

Local Government Review As part of the wider Local Government Review (LGR), the Council is actively engaged in discussions with neighbouring authorities to explore potential opportunities for collaboration, shared services delivery and governance alignment. This engagement is on-going, no formal decisions or agreements have been reached at this stage.

Under current LGR proposals, it is possible that Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council will form a new Authority by merging with other neighbouring Authorities. If approved, all the current council services in the area of the new council boundary will be merged to create a new Council.

At this time, the Council can only confirm its current demand and scope of requirements. However, this may be subject to change should additional needs arise from other local authorities as part of wider structural reforms, and any contract awarded will need to be prepared and capable of being scaled up to account for new users and processes.

Any tender opportunities and contracts will be structured to allow adjustments in the scope of services and the value of contracts to the Council to respond to change in demand and budgetary constraints, whilst ensuring that services remain efficient and continue to provide value for money. Provisions will be included to adapt to changes in geographical boundaries resulting from any reorganisation.

This will ensure that services can be extended or retracted to align with new administrative areas. In the event of reorganisation, contracts will include clauses that allows for assignment of the contract to successor authorities.

Any assignment clause is likely to state any contract may be assigned to any new authority that succeeds the original contracting authority. The Council is particularly interested in seeing the scale of the current marketplace from operators, with experience offering and implementing an all-in-one system. If you are a contractor that wishes to provide additional feedback on the proposed procurement approach this can be submitted via the email above.